page_title: Electricity generation
section_title: Turbines
hierarchical_section_title: Electricity generation / Generating equipment / Turbines
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Dreischluchtendamm Hauptwall 2006 English: Three Gorges Dam in 2006 Français&#160;: Barrage des trois Gorges en 2006. Au premier plan&#160;: Entrée de l'ascenseur à bateaux côté aval 中文: 三峡大坝,2006年
context_page_description: Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery to end users or its storage.
  A characteristic of electricity is that it is not freely available in nature in large amounts, so it must be "produced". Production is carried out in power stations. Electricity is most often generated at a power plant by electromechanical generators, primarily driven by heat engines fueled by combustion or nuclear fission but also by other means such as the kinetic energy of flowing water and wind. Other energy sources include solar photovoltaics and geothermal power.
context_section_description: Almost all commercial electrical power on Earth is generated with a turbine, driven by wind, water, steam or burning gas. The turbine drives a generator, thus transforming its mechanical energy into electrical energy by electromagnetic induction. There are many different methods of developing mechanical energy, including heat engines, hydro, wind and tidal power. Most electric generation is driven by heat engines. The combustion of fossil fuels supplies most of the energy to these engines, with a significant fraction from nuclear fission and some from renewable sources. The modern steam turbine (invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884) currently generates about 80% of the electric power in the world using a variety of heat sources. Turbine types include:
  Steam
  Water is boiled by coal burned in a thermal power plant. About 41% of all electricity is generated this way.
  Nuclear fission heat created in a nuclear reactor creates steam. Less than 15% of electricity is generated this way.
  Renewable energy. The steam is generated by biomass, solar thermal energy, or geothermal power.
  Natural gas: turbines are driven directly by gases produced by combustion. Combined cycle are driven by both steam and natural gas. They generate power by burning natural gas in a gas turbine and use residual heat to generate steam. At least 20% of the world's electricity is generated by natural gas.
  Water Energy is captured by a water turbine from the movement of water - from falling water, the rise and fall of tides or ocean thermal currents (see ocean thermal energy conversion). Currently, hydroelectric plants provide approximately 16% of the world's electricity.
  The windmill was a very early wind turbine. In a solar updraft tower wind is artificially produced. Before 2010 less than 2% of the world's electricity was produced from wind.
  Although turbines are most common in commercial power generation, smaller generators can be powered by gasoline or diesel engines. These may used for backup generation or as a prime source of power within isolated villages.
caption: Large dams such as Three Gorges Dam in China can provide large amounts of hydroelectric power; it has a 22.5 GW capability.
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